Pilot’s misbehavior was no flight of fancy

Re “A Super Hornet’s Nest,” Column One, Oct. 19

As thrilled as I would have been to see Richard Webb’s performance over San Luis Obispo, I think he demonstrated extremely poor judgment by buzzing a civil airport -- at high speed and low altitude -- with no coordination or communication with air traffic control.

In a worst-case scenario, he could have collided with a business jet full of people, resulting in a dozen deaths and the loss of more than $100 million in aircraft, not to mention damage and injuries on the ground.

In the words of a former astronaut, he’s lucky not to have been “grounded” permanently (“bought the farm” in hangar-flying terms).

He should have thought of his career beforehand!

JIM HALLORAN

Redondo Beach

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As a retired naval aviator and combat pilot, I am appalled by the antics displayed by Webb. His quote that every fighter pilot has done the same thing is completely inaccurate.

Behavior such as his has never been accepted in the U.S. naval aviation community. Flying combat takes skill and aggressiveness, not the stupidity and lack of discipline shown by Webb.

Webb feels his punishment was disproportionate to his actions. I agree. A court-martial would have been more appropriate.

I certainly hope Blake Medeiros changes his mind about considering Webb a role model and takes aviation as the serious profession it is.

GEORGE M. BIERY II

Ridgecrest